Upgrade from an original HRT Music Streamer II

I just bought the Emotiva XDA-2 DAC at the special price of
$249. Received it yesterday and got it hooked up. Burning
it in now.

This thing is scary good. I can't believe that Emotiva can
sell this for even the $399 list price and make money on it.
At $249 with free shipping and a 30 day trial period and a 5
year transferrable warranty, it's stupid good.

I really like the ability to turn on and off the 96K
upsampling feature. I bought this primary to try this
feature on MOG and Pandora. It works and sounds fantastic.

The unit is built very well and the metal remote is
amazingly solid.

Not sure if I like this better than my fully modded Eastern
Electric Minimax tube DAC with DEXA discrete op-amps, but it
does sound better with MOG and Pandora than the Minimax.

It still needs to burn in, but so far, I am VERY impressed
with the XDA-2 DAC.

Thanks for the comments Mofi ! After reading many really nice reviews of the XDA-2, and considering the amazing price of $249 with free shipping and a 30 day "home audition" policy, I just ordered it direct from Emotiva. I'm pretty psyched about this, and will keep you guys updated once I have it up and running.

I had an MS-II and then got the HD version which is considerably more detailed and smooth.

My beautiful new Emotiva XDA-2 was delivered by UPS on Thursday ..... perfectly packed in a double shipping carton with fitted styrofoam inserts, arrived in pristine condition. I "burned it in" for thirty six hours, then sat down and started listening. My initial impressions ..... Holy Crap ! This thing sounds amazing !

Compared to my Music Streamer II, which I have truly enjoyed and still recommend as a wonderfully musical USB DAC, this Emotiva XDA-2 throws a wider and deeper soundstage, offers greater dynamic range, seems more "crystal clear" without any upper end harshness, and offers a fuller top to bottom coherent presentation. When comparing, I can only rely on music through my MacBook Pro, since the HRT is USB only. Streaming tunes through MOG.com and listening to downloads from HD Tracks, I am very happy with the improvement that I am hearing in the sound of music. The Emotiva is definitely a big jump in quality over the HRT unit.

Now, the extra stuff that I can use with the Emotiva is fantastic. 75 ohm coaxial digital cable from my Rotel RCD-1072 to the XDA-2 ...... My CD's are sounding better. Optical cable from my DVD player to the XDA-2 ..... My DVD's are sounding better. The XDA-2's remote is a pleasure to use, and I am enjoying my "digital hours" in my listening room more than ever before.

Bravo the folks at Emotiva ! This XDA-2 is a marvelous product and an incredible bargain at the current $249 price. Are there better DAC's out there ? Absolutely ! Is there a better overall value out there ? I doubt it.

I have almost 200 hours on mine now. Yours will keep improving. My unit, between about 20-70 hours, was kinda harsh sounding.

I am also really enjoying mine and agree that has to be one of the "bargains of the decade".